Black people are overrepresented, and white people are underrepresented, in prisons and jails every Southern state
| Share white | Share Black | Share Hispanic | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Incarceration Rate (per 100,000) | In state | In prisons and jails | In state | In prisons and jails | In state | In prisons and jails |
| Louisiana | 1067 | 58% | 36% | 32% | 61.0% | 5% | 2% |
| Mississippi | 1020 | 56% | 37% | 37% | 56.0% | 3% | 6% |
| Arkansas | 912 | 76% | 58% | 15% | 37.8% | 8% | 4% |
| Oklahoma | 905 | 64% | 51% | 7% | 25.8% | 11% | 9% |
| Alabama | 898 | 65% | 49% | 26% | 49.3% | 4% | 1% |
| Kentucky | 889 | 84% | 78% | 8% | 19.4% | 4% | 2% |
| Georgia | 881 | 51% | 40% | 31% | 55.2% | 10% | 4% |
| Tennessee | 817 | 73% | 61% | 16% | 36.1% | 6% | 2% |
| District of Columbia | 816 | 37% | 5% | 44% | 89.0% | 11% | 6% |
| Texas | 751 | 41% | 36% | 12% | 31.0% | 40% | 32% |
| Florida | 705 | 53% | 43% | 15% | 44.8% | 26% | 11% |
| Virginia | 679 | 61% | 47% | 19% | 49.6% | 10% | 3% |
| West Virginia | 674 | 91% | 85% | 3% | 13.2% | 2% | 1% |
| United States | 614 | 58% | 36% | 14% | 42.0% | 19% | 20% |
| South Carolina | 606 | 63% | 42% | 26% | 54.5% | 6% | 3% |
| North Carolina | 559 | 62% | 43% | 21% | 48.8% | 10% | 6% |
| Delaware | 539 | 61% | 32% | 22% | 61.0% | 10% | 6% |
| Maryland | 475 | 49% | 27% | 29% | 66.7% | 11% | 5% |
Note: Race and ethnicity data for incarcerated population are for prisons and jails combined (author's calculation) with the exception of D.C. (where jail data are reported because D.C. has no prisons, only jails) and Delaware (which reports prison data only).
Source: All race and ethnicity data are from Prison Policy Initiative. “Prison and Jail Populations by State, Sex, Youth Status (Under 18), and Race and Ethnicity, with Comparative Total State Population Data and Incarceration Rate per 100,000 Calculations” [download], September 2023. Incarceration rates are from Widra, Emily. 2024. States of Incarceration: The Global Context 2024. Prison Policy Initiative, June 2024. Share of state population by race is from U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey. ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates: 2022 1-year Estimates Data Profiles (Table DP05). Accessed January 13, 2025.
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